On September 5, 2012 Mrs Al-Hilli and her second husband Saad Al-Hilli, and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, died when a gunman opened fire on their car during a family holiday in the Alps.

The same day Mr Thompson walked out of the antiques shop he ran with his sister, got into his car and drove 100 yards down the street before veering to the side and being found slumped at the wheel.

A friend said: "He had been having chest pains for some time. They were bad but he point blank wouldn't go to the doctors. He would just say 'I'll die when I die'. That was Jim. Anyone who knew him knows that it was a heart attack."

Mr Thompson, a construction worker, had married Iqbal Al-Hilli in 1999 in a marrriage of convenience so she could obtain a green card and work as a dentist.

They were introduced by an Iraqi relative who married into the family. Friends said the relationship was platonic and they had separate bedrooms. Mrs Al-Hilli called herself "Kelly" rather than Iqbal.

After two years they divorced amicably and she left the US. She met Saad Al-Hilli in the United Arab Emirates in 2003 and they married in the UK the following year.